C »AP. XXXIX.

from the I. os James I. to the Revolution,

1666.

^ment

Board another. De Ruyter, upon this,coming to his Assistance, met with thefame Fate, and the Powder of anotherDutch Ship, taking Fire,blew her up in-to the Air; (d) And Admiral Staghou-wer was killed; This is what theDutch themselves allow ; But the Eng-lish mention another Ship burnt. To-wards the latter End of the Day, SirJohn Harman, Rear Admiral of theWhite , being surrounded by a Throngof Dutch , signalized himself, by theDeath of the Zealand Admiral Evertzen,and the Destruction of three of the E-nemy’s Fire-ssiips, after which, beingleft by the Enemy, he retired with hisdisabled Ship to Harwich. Sir WilliamBerkley , Vice Admiral of the White,and almost all his Men, being kill’d,his Ship, with two more, which werecut off from the Line, and disabled,were taken.

The Night, having put an End to thefirst Day's Fight, about ten o’Clock,was spent in repairing Damages. TheEngagement was renewed the nextMorning by Break of Day, and wasContinued for some Hours, 'till a calmobliged both Fleets to ly by 'till Noon.A Breeze coming up in the Afternoonthe Battle begun again, and was foughtwith equal Bravery. Van ‘fromp havingonce more been obliged to leave his Ship(or, as others fay, having voluntarilyshifted from Ship to Ship, and fought inVariety of Shapes) at Length was sohard beset by the Englijh Ships, (toge-ther with the Vice-Admiral VanderHulfi , who was killed with a MusketShot) that had not De R uyter , with anunparallel’d Bravery, brought him off,he had infallibly been taken or funk.One of the Dutch Commmanders (RuthMaximilian, speaking of this Incident,fays, the Affairs of the Dutch leem’dat that Time to be in a desperate Condi-tion. The Dutch had this Day (accord-ing to Mr. Secretary Burchett) threeShips fired : But Rapin fays, the Eng-lijh had still the Disadvantage the secondDay, by losing eight of their largestShips, either funk or burnt, and fixtaken. But, here his Partiality is evi-dent ; For even the Dutch pretend to nofijch Advantage, and our Accounts al-

low them little or none. The greatest 1666.Loss of the Englijh being three disabledShips, which they burnt themselves.

The Duke of Alb er marl, seing, to-wards Evening, that the Dutch were re-inforced, took the Opportunity of the a ^ s ^Night to retreat; But was obliged tomake a running Fight of it all the nextDay,in hourly Expectation of joining theWhite Squadron. This Retreat (theDutch themselves own) was made inexcellent Order, and without any Loss,the Dutch following them at a Distance,

'till the Royal Prince , with Sir GeorgeAJcough, Admiral of the White Squa-dron, unfortunately striking upon theSand, called the Galloper , was burnt,by the Enemy, and himself and his Menmade Prisoners. In the Evening, of thethird Day, the Duke discovered PrinceRupert's Squadron hastening to his As-sistance. Being joined, the two Ad^mirals resolved to attack the Enemy a-gain, immediately, and setting theirCourse towards them, with Drums beat-ing, and Trumpets sounding, chargedthro’ and thro' the Dutch Squadrons:

But Night soon parted them. The nextMorning, by Break of Day, the Fightwas renewed, with equal Fury and Re-solution ; But the Accounts we have ofthis third Engagement are so contradic-tory, that it is impossible to reconcilethem. I find myself, therefore, oblig-ed to relate them separate, and I shallbegin with Mr. Secretary Burchett 'sAccount, who, one would think, mayhave had good Information, and I hope,in this Account, deserves not to be ac-cused of Partiality.

Prince Rupert (says this Gentleman) The fourthcoming in with his Squadron ; the Eng-lijh charged thro’ the Dutch Fleet, five pe rt joinsseveral Times, with good Advantage, Albermarland so broke them, that they had notabove five and twenty Ships remaining rQute d.in a Body, which only maintained arunning Fight, and retreated to theirown Coasts, having lost above fifteenShips, with one and twenty Captains,and above five Thousand common Men.

The Author of the Columna Rojlratagives us the following Account of thisDays Action: On the fourth Day (fayshe) theDutchyttho were still considerably

7 I stronger

(d) If we will believe Rapin , the Advantageof the first Day’s Engagement was on the Side ofthe Dutch , and (he fays) that they funk first anEnglijh Ship of fifty Guns, then another of se-

venty Guns; and afterwards three other firstRate Ships. The greatest Loss (continues he)the Dutch sustained was that of Vice-AdmiralEvertzen, who fell by a Cannon-Ball.